Submitted by
johnstoc
a Cross Country Rider
from Oregon Date Reviewed: September 14, 2009
Favorite Trail:
Like em all
Duration Product Used:
6 months
Price Paid:
$200.00
Purchased At:
LBS
Strengths:
Cheap, plenty powerful, ridiculously easy to bleed and swap pads.
Weaknesses:
Took me quite a while to get everything set up right, lots of tinkering and tweaking to get rid of massive squeal and "crunchy" lever feel... but great now.
Great brake, inexpensive, so easy to bleed and change pads a cave man can do it (shame on you Avid!).
Maybe you can learn from my problems:
1. Front was squeeling like CRAZY, i'm talking like laying a car horn on any extended DH section, enough to send the wildlife into the next county. Resin pads seem to have resolved this.
2. Crunchy lever feel. Took me forever and some frustration to figure this out. The metal pad backing slides against the inside of the caliper body and was making a horrible crunchy/grinding/jank feeling when the lever was pulled. Clean streak the hell out of the caliper body (no pads in) and sand the edges (front edge) of the metal pad backing with some 220 wet/dry sandpaper. Also the XTR pads seemed to not have this problem (they are Ti backed not steel.)
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
yeahdog31
a Cross Country Rider
from South Central Ohio Date Reviewed: August 20, 2009
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Price Paid:
$30.00
Purchased At:
Blue Sky Cycling
Strengths:
Affordable upgrade, quality, effortless stopping power, builds confidence on the trail
'09 Gary FIsher Piranha, quickly becoming a custom rig.
Bottom Line:
**Review is for the SLX 203mm Brake Rotor ONLY**
I purchased this larger rotor for the front of my bike, and once I got the correct mounting adaptor, slapped it on. For the most part, I was happy with the stock Shimano M486 Hydraulic brakes that came on my Piranha, at least for casual and spirited XC. However, some of my favorite trails around here are quite technical and there are some wicked fast downhill sections. Occasionally, I would experience brake fade and just not quite the stopping power I needed.
This larger rotor is an amazing upgrade for the price. It's almost as if I have a whole new brakeset on the front of my bike! Stopping force is probably almost twice what it was with the stock rotor. Installation was a breeze.
Shimano's SLX line of components is really beginning to impress me. I think I'm going to have to get a matching 160mm rotor for the back now!
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Kimchirider
a Weekend Warrior
from Jecheon, South Korea Date Reviewed: June 26, 2009
Favorite Trail:
Ha So Ri
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Price Paid:
$300.00
Purchased At:
Bikecruz
Strengths:
They work, for one. Good modulation, good power, low fade.
I gave the Quad brakes that came on the Heckler a chance, and they seemed OK, if not as strong as the old XT brakes I had on my previous bike. Then I went to the ski hill (it's small, so not like doing Whistler) and they got scary. By the end of each run the levers would be to the grip, and it was getting worse as the day went on. I decided to not mess around and went back to Shimano. SLX parts can be had in Korea for not much more than in the US, unlike most other things, and pads are available, so that sealed the deal. First day back on the ski hill and I had no more fade issues and was not worrying about my brakes all the way down. Priceless!
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
rabidchicken
a Weekend Warrior
from Fort Myers, FL Date Reviewed: June 23, 2009
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Price Paid:
$200.00
Purchased At:
Blue Sky
Strengths:
-Stylish
-Easy to install
-Easy lever reach adjustment
-Stop nicely
-Quiet
Weaknesses:
The only problem I had is also a strength. The brakes came prebled and ready to install. The problem is that my brake cables route through the frame's rear suspension. I had to disassemble the rear suspension to fit the caliper through the frame.
Similar Products Used:
-Deore mechanical disc brakes
-V-brakes
Bike Setup:
Haro Sonix Werx.
Bottom Line:
I am 100% pleased with my purchase. I researched Juicy 7s, Elixirs, Strokers, and Shimanos. After ready the reviews on the problems associated with the Avids and Strokers I narrowed it down to the Shimanos. It was a toss up between the SLX and XT discs. I soon realized i would simply be buying the "XT" logo if I went with the more expensive XTs at $300. I ended up ordering a set of SLX from blue sky for $200.
My old mechanical Deore brakes seemed to be either on or off. After the first ride with the SLX brakes, I realized what I was missing. I rarely locked my brakes up and was in full control of my bike's speed.
I never knew hydraulics were this different than mechanical brakes... Then again, it could be that I was just using really low end mechanical discs.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
patrickcasas
a Cross Country Rider
from Manila, Philippines Date Reviewed: May 24, 2009
Favorite Trail:
La Mesa
Duration Product Used:
3 months
Price Paid:
$200.00
Purchased At:
taurus bike shop
Strengths:
High quality, very reliable and does what it is designed to do. Has a bunch of stopping power with very comfortable feel.
Weaknesses:
haven't seen any weaknesses yet..
Similar Products Used:
Avid juicy
Bike Setup:
cross country and trail
Bottom Line:
Shimano has always been excellent in terms of quality and performance. Price is reasonable(depending on the model category). Some products are also good but way too expensive(you're just paying for the name! it's the character not the brand). You can't go wrong with the Shimano SLX.
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Submitted by
freeflightx
a Weekend Warrior
from byron bay australia Date Reviewed: May 15, 2009
Favorite Trail:
goes up and down...mostly down
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Price Paid:
$250.00
Purchased At:
bike shop
Strengths:
looks, power, feel, mineral oil
Weaknesses:
bleeding, hose routing
Similar Products Used:
avid, hayes, shimano
Bike Setup:
which one... black market frame, xt cranks, other stuff I had laying around,Fox 32rlc,slx brakes
Bottom Line:
Theese brakes look great. lever feel very comfy. power is great(and I'm 92kilos 200lbs). bleeding theese things are a pain,I wish shimano would get on the bandwagon and make a drip free bleeding system like avid, Once I finally got all the air out, they were fantastic. you can't beat shimano quality despite their fiddleyness. Oh yeah, The way the cable comes out of the lever puts the housing WAY out in front of the bike.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
mixi
a Cross Country Rider
from Date Reviewed: May 11, 2009
Favorite Trail:
Austria
Duration Product Used:
3 months
Strengths:
easy to setup, enough power, looks great, easy to bleed
Weaknesses:
none so far
Similar Products Used:
avid juicy 5
Bike Setup:
cotic soul frame, slx groupset, race face parts
Bottom Line:
great brakes at a bargain price! much better than the juicy fives i had before. spent quite some time to set them up perfectly and havent had a single problem since. they do what they are supposed to do - stop my bike...and they do it well and without puncturing my eardrums (like some other brakes). i use them with the XT six bolt discs. i hear the stopping power is a lot better with XTR pads...might try it in the near future.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
RIfreeDE
a Cross Country Rider
from Cave Creek, AZ Date Reviewed: April 7, 2009
Favorite Trail:
Scottsdale Preserve Trails
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Purchased At:
JensonUSA
Strengths:
Rugged Look, ease of install and simple design.
Weaknesses:
Little heavy, levers feel a little flexy.
Similar Products Used:
Avid Juicy, Magura Marta SL
Bike Setup:
Intense 6.6, full Shimano SLX
Bottom Line:
Good product, the cotter pin used to keep the pads aligned is real industrial looking and works as designed. The brakes burned in quickly to my centerlock rotors. Dual Piston works well. So far so good. I am running a 7" in front and a 6" in back. I did have to cut the hoses on both the front and rear as they were way too long. Bleeding was very very simple.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
Obi-Juan
a Weekend Warrior
from San Jose, Costa Rica Date Reviewed: March 24, 2009
Favorite Trail:
University for Peace
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Price Paid:
$175.00
Purchased At:
Bicimontaña
Strengths:
Great looks, without being flashy. Great power and modulation. Really happy so far. The adjustment of the length of the grip is awesome and comes in handy, when you know how often you´ll need to be braking.
Weaknesses:
Might lack power for ultra-long downhills, but for the trails I have been riding in Costa Rica they have given me the extra confidence I needed. I have been doing technical descents and haven´t been able to find a flaw in its performance.
Similar Products Used:
I rode sometime with some OEM hydraulics from Shimano that came on my Haro Extreme X3, and remember how in the long run they never gave me any headaches...
Bike Setup:
Cannondale F5, Reba Team, SLX Brakes, WTB Weirwolfs on front and Maxxis Crossmarks on the back. Almost everything else is stock.
Bottom Line:
I´m rating them 5 for value and 4 for overall performance just because I know some brakes have more power, but for the time being they were a great upgrade and didn´t broke the bank.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
Submitted by
glorfingal
a Weekend Warrior
from bristol, uk Date Reviewed: December 22, 2008
Favorite Trail:
50 Acre
Duration Product Used:
3 months
Price Paid:
$120.00
Purchased At:
CRC
Strengths:
Easy to fit, no real ongoing adjustment. no squeal, no fade
with good power.
Weaknesses:
pad noise when wet !
Similar Products Used:
Hayes stroker trail, avid juicy 7 (and carbon).
Bike Setup:
Kinesis Maxlight, F120, slx gears and brakes, Stylo 3.3
Bottom Line:
If it's bolted on and works what more do you need ? These
have been so much less of a paint than the Avids or Hayes
setups that I wish I'd gone Shimano in the first place.
Overall - excellent. Best buy I've made since buying a hard
tail !
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
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